A PLAN to hand over the running of two popular leisure centres to a trust has collapsed due to differences in pay structures.

After lengthy discussions to improve the facilities operated by Bromsgrove District Council through their transfer to a trust, the deal will now not go ahead.

Talks have been taking place since February 2007 to transfer both the Dolphin Centre, in School Drive, and the Haybridge Centre, at Hagley, from the council to the Wychavon Leisure Trust. Many believed it a foregone conclusion.

The trust has been running a highly successful service for Wychavon District Council since 1999. Because the Wychavon Leisure Trust is a specialist in leisure provision and benefits from tax breaks due to its charitable status, chiefs at Bromsgrove council believed transferring the centres would have meant better services to residents at a lower cost.

Phil Street, Bromsgrove council’s executive director – partnerships and projects, said: “I am very disappointed that this transfer will not be going ahead. It really was a win win situation for residents and staff, offering better services at lower cost and proving real value for money. Both the council and Wychavon Leisure Trust have worked really hard to make this deal happen, but through no fault of either party, we have not been able to reach agreement.”

Bromsgrove council is at present implementing a nationally negotiated staff pay and grading review.

While yet to be formally approved, the outcome of that review was such that Wychavon Leisure decided that it could not afford to go ahead with the deal due to differences in salary scales between theirs and the district council’s employees However the planned £850,000 investment to improve gym facilities at the Dolphin Centre will still go ahead. Council leader Roger Hollingworth said the situation will now be reviewed and officers asked to look at an alternative plan.